Access configuration values dynamically at runtime

You can access configuration values dynamically at runtime using selectors. A selector is a special syntax that enables API Gateway configuration settings to be evaluated and expanded at runtime, based on metadata values (for example, from message attributes, a Key Property Store (KPS), or environment variables).

For example, when a HTTP request is received, it is converted into a set of message attributes. Each message attribute represents a specific characteristic of the HTTP request, such as the HTTP headers, HTTP body, and so on.

If you have the filter Extract REST Request Attributes in your policy, this filter adds the incoming URI to the message whiteboard as a String array, so that you can index into the path. If the incoming path is /thisisa/test, using this type of selector results in the following attributes on the whiteboard:

${http.path[1]} = thisisa
${http.path[2]} = test

Database query results

You can use the Retrieve from or write to database filter to retrieve user attributes from a database or write user attributes to a database. You can select whether to place database query results in message attributes on the Advanced tab of the filter. By default, the Place query results into user attribute list option is selected. For more information on the Retrieve from or write to database filter, see the API Gateway Policy Developer Guide.

The query results are represented as a list of properties. Each element in the list represents a query result row returned from the database. These properties represent pairs of attribute names and values for each column in the row. The Prefix for message attribute field in the filter is required to name the list of returned properties (for example, user).

Results in user attribute list

The following table shows some example selectors when the option Place query results into user attribute list is selected.

Selector expression

Result

${user[0].NAME}

John

${user[0].LASTNAME}

Kennedy

${user[1].NAME}

Brian

${user[1].LASTNAME}

O’Connor

You can also use standard Java function calls on the attributes. For example:

${user.size()} – Number of properties (number of rows) retrieved from the database

${user[0].NAME.equals(“John”)} – Returns true if the NAME attribute (value of column NAME in first row) is “John”

For more information, see the java.util.ArrayList and java.lang.String class interfaces.

Results not in user attribute list

The following table shows some example selectors when the option Place query results into user attribute list is not selected.

Selector Expression

Result

${user.NAME[0]}

John

${user.LASTNAME[0]}

Kennedy

${user.NAME[1]}

Brian

${user.LASTNAME[1]}

O’Connor

You can also use standard Java function calls on the attributes. For example:

${user.NAME.size()} – Number of NAME attributes (number of rows with column NAME) retrieved from the database

${user.NAME[0].equals(“John”)} – Returns true if the first NAME attribute (value of column NAME in first row) is “John”

For more information, see the java.util.ArrayList and java.lang.String class interfaces.

LDAP directory server search results

You can use the Retrieve from directory server filter to retrieve user profile data. For more information on the Retrieve from directory server filter, see the API Gateway Policy Developer Guide.

The filter can look up a user and retrieve that user's attributes represented as a list of search results. Each element of the list represents a list of multivalued attributes returned from the directory server. The Prefix for message attribute field in the filter is required to name the list of search results (for example, user).

The following table shows some example selectors:

Selector Expression

Result

${user[0].memberOf[0]}

CN=Operator,OU=Sales

${user[0].memberOf[1]}

CN=Developer,OU=Dev

${user[0].memberOf[2]}

CN=Operator,OU=Support

${user[1].memberOf[0]}

CN=Operator,OU=Sales

You can also use standard Java function calls on the attributes. For example:

${user.size()} – Number of search results returned by the LDAP directory server

${user[0].memberOf.size()} – Number of memberOf attribute values returned in the search result

${user[0].memberOf.contains(“CN=Operator,OU=Sales”)} – Returns true if one of the returned memberOf attributes is “CN=Operators,OU=Sales”

${user[0].memberOf[0].equals(“CN=Operator,OU=Sales”)} – Returns true if the first memberOf attribute is “CN=Operators,OU=Sales”

For more information, see java.util.ArrayList and java.lang.String class interfaces.